penguins_primerfandomcom-20200214-history
User blog:Hazel3017/Marc-André Fleury - Traded, drafted, or staying in Pittsburgh?
Ever since the news of the 2017 NHL expansion to Vegas—and the consequent draft—the status of Marc-André Fleury has been a question mark in Pittsburgh. He's been the Penguins' franchise goaltender for almost a full decade and still has 3 years left on his contract, including this season. Fleury has said he wants to remain a Penguin, but now that is looking extremely unlikley. Just a single year ago, this wouldn't even have been an issue, but with the emergence of 22-year-old Matt Murray—the Penguins' franchise-goalie-to-be—it is becoming increasingly difficult to envision a future in which Fleury stays in Pittsburgh. Here's why: Pittsburgh can only protect one ''goalie in the expansion draft, and they're most likely going to protect Matt Murray. According to the rules of the draft, teams can protect the following: *'7 forwards, 3 defensemen and 1 goaltender.' Or *'8 skaters (forwards/defensemen) and 1 goaltender.' So only one goalie, either way. Furthermore: *'All players who currently have effective and continuing "No Movement" clauses at the time of the Expansion Draft (and who declines to waive such clauses) must be protected and will count towards the team's protection limit. ' That includes Fleury, who has a limited no-movement clause (there are 8 teams on his no-list). If the rules had been slightly different, the Penguins could protect Fleury while not having to worry about Murray, because with his less than one season in the NHL, Murray should have been exempt from the draft under the following rule: *'All first- and second-year professionals, as well as all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection (and will not be counted toward their club's applicable protection limits).' However, Murray is ''not ''exempt, because the NHL counts AHL experience as professional (though not the KHL, which is why Artemi Panarin is not eligible for the draft). As such, Murray's years in the AHL means he doesn't count as a second-year professional, even if this year will techincally be his first full season in the NHL. In order to protect Murray then, the Penguins have to ask Fleury to waive his no-movement clause in order to be eligable for the draft, ''or ''trade him before it comes to that. There are pros and cons to each of these options. Trading Fleury means losing a solid and experienced goaltender, with a high winning and save percentage. Fleury will easily play around 60 of 82 games a season and give his team ca 40 wins. Trading him also means $5.75M coming off the books and would hopefully net a high return of picks and/or players. Keeping Fleury and have him waive his no-movement clause would benefit the team in the same way why losing him is less than ideal, and it would give the Penguins two pehnemonal goaltenders for the playoffs, but it also means that Pittsburgh could potentially lose Fleury for nothing if he's picked up in the draft (the money comes off the books either way). Of course there is no gurantee that Vegas will even draft him in the event that Fleury is availble to draft, but consider this: *'The Las Vegas franchise must select one player from each presently existing club for a total of 30 players.' And *'The Las Vegas franchise must select the following number of players at each position: 14 forwards, 9 defensemen, and 3 goaltenders.' If Fleury waives his no-movement clause in time for the draft, he is without a doubt the best Penguins player availble, and Vegas would ''still ''be able to draft another two goalies. Frankly, if Fleury is available, why ''wouldn't ''they draft him? Personally, I think trading him makes the most sense if you want a return for him, but I could see why Pittsburgh would want to keep him beyond the trade deadline—and risk losing him later—if they're pushing for another Cup this season. Regardless, I believe it is Fleury who has to go. I can't see a scenario in which Pittsburgh is willing to lose Matt Murray in a trade ''or ''the draft. And if Fleury isn't traded this season ''or picked up by Vegas in the draft, he'll be traded in the off-season. As of now, with Matt Murray's new contract,https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/matt-murray-contract-extension/c-282855844 Pittsburgh will be paying their goalies a combined salary of $9.5M next season. That is just not feasible for a cap-strapped team like the Penguins. Maybe GM Jim Rutherford has a plan in mind, and maybe Fleury won't be traded before this season's deadline, but that he eventually leaves Pittsburgh seems inevitable. What do ''you ''think? Sound off in the comments below or vote now! Is Fleury staying or going? Vegas will definitely draft him GM Rutherford will trade him for picks and/or players Fleury isn't traded or drafted - he stays in Pittsburgh References https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-expansion-draft-rules/c-281010592 Category:Blog posts Category:Fan Content Category:Fan Article Category:Marc-André Fleury Category:Hazel3017